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There is alot that comes up, through actual practice or through researching that aids gardening. Some things you will already be aware of, and forget that they are common sense. Others crop up through research, and suddenly things make more sense and are made more clearer. *'Protecting plants': The weather in Blighty is techincally temperate. That meands to say that you could well get all four seasons in the one day. It is also means that you may well have fairly inconsistent weather, that not only confuses you, but also sends your gardening off kilter. Come rain or shine, you want your little green beings to do well, so you will need to make sure that the are protected against t he elements. Tender plants, especially peas , courgettes , and squashes can be particularly vulnerable to the elements. To protect against the nip in the air, you can employ either a fleece or a warming jacket . Since I have everything in a pot, the jackets have been very useful. Most of the time, the jackets have helped, but I can't say with any confidence as to how low the temperature can get to permeate them. If it looked as though there was going to extreme coldness, I just used two rather than one. If it's not the elements, then creatures of the winged variety are likely to feed on your green things. With peas and beans , use pea netting . It is nylon netting, that you can train beans and peas onto as they grow. And as they grow, place it on top, to prevent greedy birds from dinng out. When it gets cold and damp, you can use the warming jackets to prevent plants getting soaked. More experienced gardeners may well use cloches, but for all the googling I did and garden centres I visited, I couldn't find cloches to do the job that I wanted. In the past, before I chancd upon warming jackets, I actually used supermarket carrier bags. *'Companion planting': There are certain plants that just don't get on well with each otherr, when they are in each others personal space. For exam ple, you shouldn't have Chillies and tomatos within a few centimetres of each other. Whereas if you have onions, these are protective, and prevent certain bugs and beasties from chomping on your greens. *'Pollination':Some plants, such as chillies , are self polinating. Now whilst there are male and female flowers, some plants more or less get on with it themselves. That is not to say bees are redundant, they do help. If there is a lack of bees, or your chilli is inside, you may well have to do the job yourself by tapping the inside of the flower with a small paint brush. *'Weed Prevention': Use mulch around the base of your plant. Not only will this help prevent weeds, but it also aids drainage of water. *'Container Gardening': I have found that using plastic pots is fairyly efficient. if you use clay pots, these will quickly dehydrate and cause your greens to be very thirsty. If you use metallic containers, these too will get hot and cook your plants through. At least plastic pots come in lots of colours, shapes and sizes. And if they last a while, you can use them over and over again, *'Assisted pollination/Fertilisation': Where by you have to help the plants reproduce. You have to transfer pollen from the male flowers to the the female flowers. Might be necessary in chillies and butternut squashes. This will however vary on the level of insects that you have and the species/genus of plant. *'Bone Fish and Blood...or however it goes': An organic fertiliser that returns basic nutrients to the soil. At least now, I won't just bin the dirt the veggies are in. Will allow further cropping once you have mixed it in after one batch.